Communication Practices of Municipal Information Office: A Case in Selected Municipalities in Batangas Province

Communication plays a fundamental role in bridging the gap between governments and citizens as it gives access to relevant information and signifies an avenue for citizens to participate in community affairs, particularly on issues that matter most to them. This study is about the communication practices of Municipal Information Office (MIO) confined in the selected municipalities in Batangas province with designated municipal public information officers. Thereby, this assessed the views of the community residents and the Sangguniang barangay about the function of PIO. The respondents of the study involved the community residents and the members of the Sangguniang Barangay in the selected municipalities. To identify the number of the population needed, simple random sampling was used. The survey instrument was constructed to collect pertinent and adequate data. Moreover, an informal interview was conducted during the survey to gather pertinent and sufficient information. As for the challenges, this study revealed that they differ from one community to another and that includes: budget constraints, lack of interest and least of priority, communication channels, and management capacity. For the output, based on the issues and challenges identified, a community participation structure and mechanism project (PROJECT SIiLOG (Strengthening Initiatives on Improving Local Governance), was proposed